


The Chariot

by Kottyss



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: AkaYona Tarot Zine, Gen, Gi-gans origins, Pirates, badass pirate lady builds her family, jae-ha is referenced but doesn't directly make an appearance sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29276058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kottyss/pseuds/Kottyss
Summary: “You.” She fixed him with a hard look, before flitting her eyes down to the long pipe he held in his hand. “D’you know your way ‘round a ship?”The man snorted, a few of his buddies joining in with their own chuckles. “The hell kinda question is that? ‘Course I do - I’d be a pretty shitty fisherman if I didn’t.”Gi-Gan smirked. “Good.” She marched up to the man, looking him right in the eyes as she snatched the pipe from his grasp. “You start tomorrow.”
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	The Chariot

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally made for the AkaYona Tarot Zine from a while back, and I finally decided to polish it up a bit more and publish it on ao3! It was written for the Chariot card, obviously, and I had a lot of fun making my little homage to my favourite pirate grandma <3 Enjoy!

“Wait,  _ you’re _ the captain of this ship?”

It was always the first question out of people’s mouths when Gi-Gan introduced herself to new recruits. She understood why; no one expects a cranky old lady to be the notorious leader of a crew of pirates. She couldn’t blame them for being a little skeptical at first.

It only took a few sharp comments or a couple well placed flying blades to whip them into shape, anyway.

She hadn’t always been the rough-edged vigilante she was today. As hard as it was to believe, most of Gi-Gan’s life had been spent as a housewife. Her crew could never know - Gods, she doesn’t even want to  _ think  _ of the field day those boys would have if they found out the great and powerful Gi-Gan had lived most of her life as a sweet little baker’s wife.

She and her husband had lived together in a quaint little village just outside Awa, and together the two of them had lived a happy, peaceful life. They’d wake up early in the morning and begin preparing for the day, open the shop and make small talk with the patrons as they came in to make their purchases. At the end of the day they would sit on the little wooden porch out front and watch the world go by. It was a good life, if a little quiet, but she was happy with it.

Even after her husband passed away, Gi-Gan had kept to her sedentary schedule. She’d taken over most of the responsibilities around the bakery on her own, with a little help from a lovely young woman from across the street by the name of Mee-Lei. After her husband passed, Mee-Lei became the closest thing Gi-Gan had to family. She would come over a couple times each day, sometimes to help out with various tasks around the shop, others just to keep her company for a few hours. Mee-Lei quickly earned herself a place in Gi-Gan’s heart, and she often found herself doting on the young woman as she would have her own child.

But as the years passed the village grew less and less safe. Armed officials took to the streets on the regular, causing a fuss and flexing their armour as if it gave them the right to do whatever they pleased. Most of the residents in Gi-Gan’s village learned very quickly that putting up any sort of resistance was met swiftly with violence. It was much safer to turn a blind eye or look the other way, for everyone involved. 

But Gi-Gan absolutely could not hold her tongue the day a pair of guards took too much of an interest in Mee-Lei, stopping her in the middle of the street on her way to the bakery. Gi-Gan could hear their words from just inside the shop; ugly, crass things meant to humiliate and belittle. They practically leered at Mee-Lei, and Gi-Gan’s blood boiled. One of the scoundrels reached out and grabbed the young woman’s arm and she was racing out to the porch, running her mouth as loudly as she could and causing the biggest scene their village had seen in a while.

It had worked-- sort of. Mee-Lei was saved, but the guards had decided to ransack the bakery as collateral. Her home, her livelihood, her whole life, destroyed in an afternoon.

She probably could have rebuilt, if she’d really tried. But after years of living under a monarchy that turned a blind eye, Gi-Gan had decided this was the last straw. 

By the end of the week she had sold the bakery and bid a tearful goodbye to dear Mee-Lei. She travelled to Port Awa, where she promptly purchased herself a modest sailboat to kick off her plan. It was no secret the local lord, Yang Kum-Ji, had established himself a well-built smuggling ring in the town, and if Gi-Gan was going to do anything to make a difference in this world, throwing a wrench into his plans seemed like a damn good place to start.

But despite her conviction to righting the wrongs that had taken root in Awa, Gi-Gan knew she’d need some help. So on her third night she’d marched herself to the darkest, roughest part of the city and right up to the first group of people she could find.

“Hey! Old bag!” One of the men called out to her as she approached. If she was being honest, he was closer to a boy than a man, but held himself with the posture of someone who was no stranger to violence. Her eyes quickly caught on the X-shaped scar sitting in the middle of his forehead. “The hell d’you think you’re doing here?”

“You.” She fixed him with a hard look, before flitting her eyes down to the long pipe he held in his hand. “D’you know your way ‘round a ship?”

The man snorted, a few of his buddies joining in with their own chuckles. “The hell kinda question is that? ‘Course I do - I’d be a pretty shitty fisherman if I didn’t.”

Gi-Gan smirked. “Good.” She marched up to the man, looking him right in the eyes as she snatched the pipe from his grasp. “You start tomorrow.”

She didn’t bother waiting for a reply as she turned on her heel and started making her way back to her ship. Ignoring the indignant cries of the man behind her, she took a moment to admire the craftsmanship of her new pipe before calling over her shoulder. 

“Bring your buddies, too. The ship’s called The Endeavour.” She turned her head just far enough to make eye contact with the stunned group of men, standing dumbstruck on the side of the street. “Don’t keep me waiting, twerps.”

{*****}

Gi-Gan was only half surprised when the man actually did show up on the docks the following day, a few friends in tow. They’d stood awkwardly in place, looking between her, the boat behind her, and the fresh set of throwing knives she’d bought at the market that morning. 

“Well?” she snapped at them, “What are you waiting for? Let’s get this thing on the water!”

“Hey, wait a second, old lady,” the man spoke up. “You haven’t even told us what the hell we’re doing here.”

This made Gi-Gan smirk. “You boys are all frustrated with the way things are being run here in Awa, aren’t you?”

The man blinked. “Well, yeah, but-”

“Good. Then how’s about we do something to change that, hm? Set a few things straight with our friend Yang Kum-Ji.” She patted the hull on the boat behind her, smirk only growing as she watched the eyes of all four men widen at the same time.

The grins that quickly replaced their shocked expressions were more than enough to reaffirm to Gi-Gan that this was the right thing to do. Awa had fallen on some hard times, but with every successful operation her crew pulled off, every proud grin they shared on the decks, proved to her time and time again that all her hard work was paying off.

Her crew grew bit by bit as time wore on, and as they collected new members they were able to upgrade their ship, eventually trading her out for a fully fledged pirate ship, which she led with pride. 

It had taken her whole life to bring her to this point, but she finally felt like she’d found what she was supposed to do. The determination to return peace to Awa and its people was a driving force for Gi-Gan and her ragtag crew of pirates, and every little success brought them one step closer to achieving that goal.

And when a certain snot-nosed brat with bright green hair and horrible flirting skills showed up on her decks one day, Gi-Gan felt one more piece of her life fall into place. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Tips/critiques are always appreciated as always; let me know what you think! Otherwise, have a great day <3


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